Father's Footsteps
by DevonFowler
Summary: A son wants to follow his father's footsteps  who died in battle  to save his mom.  But, evil lurks on his quest of success.


Father's Footsteps

Bright rays of sunlight flared over my village of Wedgemore. There were chickens all around, dogs barking at the sight of sun, and villagers ready to begin their glorious day. Such a beautiful village and such great people made Wedgemore feel like a king to other villages. Yet terror kept crossing my mind. Ever since the day my father died in the War of Revolt, I have never been the same. My father was a very noble man; he would protect every soul in Wedgemore and would fight for any kingdom in England. He once told me, "Great strength can help in war, but great courage helps with fear." Oddly, today his words kept crossing my mind. My mom is also a very great woman. She cooks for me all the time and takes excellent care of the house. Mom was in a rough time though. She was dying of pox and the only way to help her was to kill the dragon that guarded the gates of hell. My father's words however made Wedgemore a new day. It was the day when I followed my dad's footsteps and save mom from her illness. I grabbed the sword out of dad's old cabinet and as I walked out, I heard a yell.

"Rygar, where are you going?" Mom said from the bed.

"I'm going to save you, Mother."

"Oh son, let God choose my fate. You mustn't worry; you are too young to worry."

"I can't!" I said as I ran out the door.

After I walked outside, I realized I would need someone to take care of mom while I was gone. So I stopped at the one girl's house that I knew would be able to do it.

"Hello Rygar, what brings you here?" Valkerie asked with a smile.

"Valkerie, I need your help, mom is on her deathbed and I need someone to take care of her while I am gone."

"Of course I can take care of your mother. Where are you going?"

"Valkerie, my father is calling me. He knows I have the strength to cure mom and I'm going to slay the dragon."

"THE DRAGON THAT GUARDS THE GATES OF HELL?" She cried in excitement.

"Yes but I have no time.I must go."

I then stopped Marcus's house.

"Marcus, I need your help." I said with emotion.

"What do you need Rygar?"

"I need your help in slaying the dragon."

"Are you crazy Rygar? No one has ever set foot on the gates of hell."

"Marcus I do not have time to argue, are you in or not?" I said with a yell.

"Fine." He said with a sigh.

We both walked out and hopped on our horses on our way to the gates of hell. We passed many villages and made our way to a dark forest. We were going through, when we came across a giant three horned bull. I pulled out my sword and yelled to Marcus.

"We must work together to defeat the beast."

"Alright Rygar, let's do this."

The bull came charging at me as I gave it a quick swing of my sword only to see I missed as I fell off my horse. The bull sat over me with huge horns waiting to penetrate my skin. I lay reaching for my sword, which was too far away as the beast dropped spit on my face. Just as the beast stood up on two legs to finish me, Marcus came charging in and cut off the beast's right leg. The beasts screamed and shook the forest as if there was a breeze flowing through the woods. After that I stood up and with all of my might I swung my sword at the beast, slicing his head off finding out I had killed the beast. I cut off the beast's three horns and put them in the carrying case on the horse.

"Wow!" I said in excitement "That was extreme."

"Yeah, I hear you." Marcus said as he was gasping for air.

We both hopped back on our horses' and continued our journey. As we were riding I couldn't help to notice something. Marcus was one of my closest friends. He has always been with me in the good times and the rough. I never realized how much he meant to me and that if it wasn't for him I would have died from that bull. As I was caught up in the moment of praise towards Marcus he said,

"Well, shall we sleep here tonight?"

"Yeah I don't see why not, Marcus."

We gathered around some clothing for warmth and lay on the grass. I starred at the stars still thinking about Marcus.

"Hey Marcus, when did we become so close?" I said with a smile.

There was no response.

"Marcus?" I said, worried.

Then I heard him snore and I knew that he had had a long day and that he had fallen asleep, so I did the same.

The crack of dawn came around and we both woke at roughly the same time and began our quest. We were going through the village of Narthma and we both noticed something odd. There weren't any people in this town, not even an animal. The town looked infertile, and as we rode down the street, we saw a child that was about 5 years old. As we were walking toward him, a lion jumped out of nowhere trying to attack the boy.

"Kid, look out" I sprinted towards him.

The lion scared that kid and tears were streaming down his face while the lion starred at him, growling. I swung my sword and missed the lion when all of a sudden it scratched my upper side. I screamed as I fell to the ground. Instantly Marcus came in to help but he missed the lion too. The lion was too quick to hit with a sword. As I was thinking about what to do I hear a yell.

"Rygar, I'll be a distraction; you kill him!" Said Marcus

He then ran around the other side of the lion turning the lion around. I then came in and with a swing of my sword I had killed the lion. I then dropped to the ground feeling the blood pour out of my body. I had done something my father would have done; I sacrificed myself for this kid. Just then Marcus came charging over.

"Hey Rygar, are you alright?" said Marcus

"Yeah I am fine, just a little cut that's all."

I got back up and looked around the child was gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

"Marcus did you see where that child went?"

"No I didn't, that's strange." Marcus replied.

We then figured we would stay here for tonight and get plenty of rest so we went to bed. The next morning we took off. I could sense we were getting closer by the presence of the air. There was fog all over the place and it was very warm. We began going down this mountain for a good stretch and noticed there was fire at the very bottom.

"There it is, Marcus." I said.

"You sure you want to do this Rygar?"

"This is for my father and my mother. Of course I want to."

Just then, a knight stepped out of cliff side guarding our way to the gates of hell. I stopped, wondering what this mysterious man wanted but noticed something was weird. He has his sword out, ready to fight and a shield that was made out of dragon bones. He charged us swing his sword and just missed my body.

"Marcus, look out!" I screamed.

The knight swung his sword and cut off Marcus's head and I went into complete shock.

"Noooo! Marcus!"

The knight then began running towards me. I planted my foot and it was time for me to be my dad. With tears in my eye I swung with all my might just nicking the knight's armor. He then struck back, putting a small cut on my left arm. I ran at him again and struck the knight right across his neck and cut off his head. I was so angry I just kept swinging at the knight that was already dead. _Marcus is gone. Gone forever! _ I kept hearing in my head. I took my sword and laid it next to Marcus's body, grabbed the knight's shield and said a prayer. Tears were rolling down my face; my best friend was literally gone before my eyes. I turned quickly and gazed at the gates of hell. I hopped on my horse and took off back down the hill. As I was approaching the gates I notice the dragon guarding it. I stopped for a little bit and thought about my dad's words. "Great strength can help in war, but great courage helps with fear." That was when I took off and began to charge the dragon. Just as I got there the dragon flew up in the sky and began shooting flames at me. I used the shield for defense and it worked, the flames could not hit me, only the shield. I then pulled out the 3 horns from the bull and began throwing them at the dragon. I hit the both of the dragon's eyes blinding him to see. The dragon instantly flew to the ground and began spitting fire everywhere just trying to hit me. Just then I ran up with the last bull horn and stabbed it in the dragon's throat and ripped down its whole body. The dragon stumbled a little bit but then fell to the ground. I had done it I did what no one said I could do. I had slain the dragon and saved my mom. I quickly grabbed a cup of blood and hopped back on my horse to head home.

My journey took a couple days, but as soon as I got home I gave mom the blood. She felt better as soon as she took the first sip and I was happy to know I had saved my mom. I thanked Valkerie for what she had done and that night I realized something. My quest taught me something. Friends are those who will give anything to protect you and that with a little bit of courage you can accomplish anything!


End file.
